Iranian national identity is mostly a territorial distinction as the inhabitants of Iran represent various ethnic, religious, and ethnic groups. There are over 70 million citizens of Iran as of 2006 census. Iranian national identity is grounded in a strong national culture shaped by a history that can be traced as far back as 4000BCE. This strong national culture functions as a great unifying force among the diverse demographic groups of Iran
Modern Iranians consist of several linguistic groups speaking different dialects of the Iranian language. 75-80% of Iranians speak a language of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European language family. The most important Iranian language spoken by Iranians is Parsi, sometimes spelled Farsi. Farsi is generally considered the improper name because it is an Arabism of the name of the language due to lack of a “P” sound in the Arabic language. Iran is a geographically diverse nation with mountains and the Caspian sea in the north and deserts and the Persian Gulf in the South. This variety of geographic area leads to a variety of accents and dialects in the country. Most dialects of Parsi are mutually intelligible along with other sister languages in the family like Pashto, Urdu, and Kurdish.
Iranians have a plurality of different ethnic groups as well. There are Azeris and Kurds in the north, near the border with Azerbaijan and northern Iraq. There are Arabs in the south near southern Iraq in the western part of the country. Lurs in the deserts of the south. Minor pockets of Turkmenis near the border with Turkemenistan. The largest ethnic group in all of Iran are the Persians who are approximately 65% of the population. The percentages of the minority groups are: Azeris 16%, Kurds 10%, Lurs 6%, Arabs 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmens 1%, Turkic tribal groups 1%, and non-Persian, non-Turkic groups 1% (CIA World Fact-Book). After 2001, Iran has been home to many refugees of the Iraq and Afghan Wars.
There are also Iranians living abroad as members of the Iranian diaspora. Most Iranian-expatriates and people of Iranian ancestry live in North America and Europe. Los Angeles, California has the largest concentration of Iranians living outside of Iran with a community of over 72,000.
Iranians are mostly Muslim. The break down of Muslims along Sunni and Shiite lines are approximately 9% Sunni and 89% Shiite. However, there are several religious minorities that are constitutionally able to practice their religion peacefully. Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are able to practice and collectively consist of 2% of the entire population. Zoroastrianism is a religion that predates Islam and is a religion of Iranian origins. Iranians who are of Bahai’i faith, Iran’s largest religious minority, are not constitutionally protected and are persecuted in Iran.
Iran is a young country with a median age of 26.4 years. The life expectancy of Iran is approximately 69 years for men and 72 years for females.